Expression//Reaction//ScienceProjects

11/08/2012

The Empire State Building Project (Sunsets)

Today the weather gods finally took mercy on the city and granted us a beautiful sunset.
It's been a tough few weeks, obviously, and for many people -- most on the periphery of the city and beyond -- the end is nowhere in sight.
For others, however -- such as the Republican nominee for President -- the end is here.
What's interesting is that the slogan of the last election -- "change" -- seems more appropriate to describe what feels like a bigger, more important shift; for the first time in a long time, the Democratic party fought back from a difficult position and didn't capitulate; or rather, a majority of voters in the U.S., having been burned so many times in the past, refused to believe that voting Republican would be in their best interests. Whether this shift results in true legislative reform remains to be seen, of course; there's basically an infinity of open space in which we could -- and should -- shift to the left; for starters, it seems unfathomable to me that the Republicans are going to fight to hold tax rates steady for billionaires who squandered so much money (but really just a fraction of their wealth) on an attempt to poison the democratic process. The "hope" this time around also seems quieter and more restrained. We don't need miracles or dreams; we need a government that isn't afraid to govern for more than 1 percent of its people. With so much work to be done, and in so many areas, it seems like it would be wrong to take more than a second to enjoy the sunset before we resume the effort to get the government back on track. But the second is here, so let's take it.

'It’s to the credit of Matthew Gallaway’s enchanting, often funny first novel that it doesn’t require a corresponding degree of obsession from readers, but may leave them similarly transported: the book is so well written — there’s hardly a lazy sentence here — and filled with such memorable lead and supporting players that it quickly absorbs you into its worlds.